Focus Point - Tax Cut Numbers

Commentary by Pete du Pont

October 20, 2000

I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis.

George W. Bush was right when he talked about Al Gore's fuzzy math, but the fact is much of Gore's math isn't fuzzy at all. It's really pretty simple. Bush wants to cut current income taxes across the board. Replacing the current 15 percent rule with 10 percent, the 20 percent rate with 15 percent, the 31 percent rate with 25 percent, and so on.

Al Gore plans to keep the rates the same, with no across-the-board-cuts. Instead, he has targeted cuts for the right kind of people. People who have kids in day care, for example -- but only government approved day care; people who drive cars, but one's Al Gore approves of, not the rest; married taxpayers, but not if they itemized deductions.

And his system is dauntingly complex, far more so than I have time to outline here. Let's just say that there's one voting bloc Al Gore has locked up in November: Tax accountants. If he wins, they're in high cotton.

Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont, and I'll see you next time.